VWC (22-3, 17-1 ODAC), ranked 12th nationally in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, secured the top seed for this weekend’s ODAC championship tournament and will face EMU (6-12, 11-14 ODAC) again in the first quarterfinal game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
It will be a similar scenario to last year when EMU and VWC met in the season finale and then battled four days later in the quarterfinals. The Marlins, seeded second, won that meeting 81-72 en route to the ODAC championship.
The team’s met back in December in Harrisonburg in a game that saw EMU leading by 15 with 12:20 remaining only to see VWC fight back and win 78-75 in overtime. That game was played without the Marlins’ leading scorer, junior forward Brandon Adair (Virginia Beach, Va.). On Tuesday it was the Royals playing without their leading scorer, junior forward Jason Sager (Edinburg, Va.), who was injured last Wednesday against Randolph-Macon.
In Tuesday’s regular season finale, with the score tied 20-20 with 9:28 to go in the half, VWC closed the half with a 22-7 run for a 15-point halftime lead. The Marlins continued the pressure with an 18-4 run to start the second half for a 29-point advantage and went on to win 84-51.
Senior Matt Towell (Gloucester, Va.) led four Marlins in double figures with 15 points and five rebounds. Adair and sophomore Ton Ton Balenga (Newport News, Va.) had 13 points each with senior Marques Fitch (Virginia Beach, Va.) adding 12. The Marlins shot 53.6% from the floor for the game.
Sophomore Korey Whiting (Stafford, Va.) and junior Jason Lentz (Diana, W.Va.) led EMU with eight points each. EMU shot 41.7% from the floor and went 0-for-7 on three-point field goals. EMU was also forced into 24 turnovers for the game.
In other quarterfinal games on Saturday, fourth-seeded Guilford (12-13, 10-8 ODAC) will meet fifth-seeded Emory & Henry (14-11, 10-8 ODAC) at 3 p.m., second-seeded Randolph-Macon (20-5, 15-3 ODAC) will battle seventh-seeded Bridgewater at 6 p.m., and third-seeded Hampden-Sydney (17-7, 11-7 ODAC) will battle sixth-seeded Roanoke(14-11, 8-10 ODAC) at 8 p.m.
EMU will look to end a 15-game losing streak in the ODAC Tournament since losing the 1983 championship game. The Royals are 4-20 all-time in the tournament.
Newspaper Box Score Eastern Mennonite vs Virginia Wesleyan 2/14/06 7 p.m. at The Batten Center/Virginia Beach, Va. At The Batten Center/Virginia Beach, Va. VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 84, EASTERN MENNONITE 51 EASTERN MENNONITE (11-14, 6-12 ODAC) WHITING, Korey 3-6 2-7 8; LENTZ, Jason 2-8 4-4 8; BAILEY, Corey 1-1 4-4 6; PARKES, Brad 3-5 0-0 6; PARRISH, LeRoger 3-5 0-0 6; GORDON, JoMorrae 2-8 1-2 5; HORNSBY, Richard 2-2 0-0 4; ARRINGTON, E.J. 2-6 0-1 4; ROY, Robert 2-2 0-2 4; FITZGERALD,Chancelor 0-0 0-0 0; RENNER, Darrell 0-2 0-0 0; DYER, Earl 0-0 0-0 0; GALYON, Dustin 0-0 0-0 0; LYONS, Jered 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 11-20 51. VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (22-3, 17-1 ODAC) TOWELL, Matt 5-9 5-6 15; BALENGA, TonTon 5-6 3-4 13; ADAIR, Brandon 5-7 3-8 13; FITCH, Marques 4-8 4-4 12; TUCKER, D'Juan 3-3 1-1 9; FANTIN, Tyler 3-6 0-2 6; SUMPTER, Thomas 1-3 2-4 4; GREEN, Tory 1-2 0-0 3; KLINK, Travis 1-2 0-2 3; PASCHAL, Ari' 1-1 0-0 2; DIXON, Terrell 0-4 2-2 2; YOUNG, Rodney 1-3 0-0 2; GREEN, Zac 0-0 0-4 0; HASSELL, Norman 0-1 0-0 0; MILLER, Devven 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 20-37 84. Eastern Mennonite............. 27 24 - 51 Virginia Wesleyan............. 42 42 - 84 3-point goals-Eastern Mennonite 0-7 (WHITING, Korey 0-2; PARRISH, LeRoger 0-2; GORDON, JoMorrae 0-1; ARRINGTON, E.J. 0-1; LYONS, Jered 0-1), Virginia Wesleyan 4-14 (TUCKER, D'Juan 2-2; KLINK, Travis 1-2; GREEN, Tory 1-1; FITCH, Marques 0-1; FANTIN, Tyler 0-2; SUMPTER, Thomas 0-1; DIXON, Terrell 0-2; YOUNG, Rodney 0-1; BALENGA, TonTon 0-1; TOWELL, Matt 0-1). Fouled out--Eastern Mennonite-GORDON, JoMorrae; GALYON, Dustin, Virginia Wesleyan-None. Rebounds-Eastern Mennonite 32 (BAILEY, Corey 5; PARKES, Brad 5), Virginia Wesleyan 36 (FANTIN, Tyler 8). Assists-Eastern Mennonite 6 (LENTZ, Jason 1; GORDON, JoMorrae 1; BAILEY, Corey 1; WHITING, Korey 1; ARRINGTON, E.J. 1; PARRISH, LeRoger 1), Virginia Wesleyan 14 (SUMPTER, Thomas 5). Total fouls-Eastern Mennonite 29, Virginia Wesleyan 19. A-545 Program record 20th consecutive victory for VWC VWC ranked No. 12 nationally First time in program history for 17 league wins for VWC